An Aussie Seriously Loses the Plot in Bangkok

Story here. Lovely Thai-media photo here.

And it’s the photo that really makes it special. Otherwise, this is a not too-abnormal case of Angry Farang Syndrome. (Farang = Westerner.) I’ve seen it before, although not quite this severe. All the little Third World annoyances, even in a relatively easy and open place like Thailand, build up over time until they reach a critical point. Especially if you drink, the danger of a spectacular explosion mounts.

This one Aussie, whatever set him off, stole two presumably large bottles of beer from a 7-Eleven, then the taxi he was trying to make his getaway in. Once the police finally captured him, he became very violent, to say the least:

Excerpt: "After the officers’ efforts to calm the Aussie down failed, they decided that a dose of pepper spray might do the trick. After the Aussie was liberally doused with the noxious spray, police decided he was calm enough for them to dare open the door.

"However, as soon as police had the Aussie out of the truck, he exploded again, freeing himself from the clutches of the officers and going on a rampage, chasing and punching as many policemen as he could.

“The enraged Australian managed to injure a number of officers before he was finally overpowered, in the process of which he, disturbingly, lost his trousers. The photo of the incident in the Thai press shows the Aussie with his trousers round his ankles, his dignity somewhat spared by a small superimposed red dot.”


(End of excerpt.) Sounds like the legendary James “Earthquake McGoon” McGovern Jr., who, captured by the Chinese communists one time in the 1950s, raised such hell with his captors that they supposedly let him go.

I like how the article sort of treats him like an orangutang or yeti or such.

“And then the creature awoke into a frenzy a second time, bashing about and clawing! Fear the Aussie! Run!”

I love how they pointed out that it took a ‘small’ red dot to censor the photo. Sounds like this fellow has bigger (er, relatively speaking) problems at the source of his rage.

He looks like Philip Baker Hall.